Could it be that the GoodGym x Children's Allotment is destined to forever be a rainy evening?! It seems likely, but it doesn't dampen our enthusiasm for this amazing community cooperative project.

Since the Allotment is a bit tucked away we met in Florence Park; gathering up a few lost souls, chatting about ideas for autumn/winter tasks, and giving our latest Black Tshirt club member a cheer before setting off to the Children's Allotment - well done on 50 GoodGym Good Deeds Sarah!

Alice was ready and waiting for us at the Children's Allotment, and extremely well-prepared for our bumper crop of GoodGymers, with several tasks planned, and tools ready and waiting. This week we had hedge maintenance, woodchip spreading (cue an enthusiastic dash to the wheelbarrows!), tomato picking, and bramble/weed clearing for a new fruit and veg bed.

Tasks assigned, tools and gloves sorted, and everyone got stuck in straight away. The most popular task was definitely barrowing loads of woodchip over to spread out in what will one day be a play area, with much whooping and shouts of encouragement in that area! The teams untangling bind weed from the hedge, clearing the area for new planting, and harvesting tomatoes might have been quieter, but they were no less effective and chatty as they worked away.

As ever, it's impressive how much can be achieved in little more than an hour when 20 or so people get to work, and this task was no exception. The whole wood chip pile was redistributed over the play area, almost the whole hedge was cleared of it's choking bind weed, and the vast majority of the brambles and weeds were lopped and dug out from the new planting area.

We have been well fed on our Community Missions lately, and this week's bounty was eating and cooking apples, plus some delicious plum tomatoes. Yummy!

Welcome to our hat-trick of new volunteers; Natalie, Venetia, and Anna, as well as Nicki who joined us all the way from Cardiff. Great to meet you!

This week at GoodGym we spent a lovely summer evening helping at OxGrow’s community garden at Hogacre Common.

OxGrow aims to educate children and adults in growing food sustainably, and gives back to the community by sharing its fruits, vegetables and herbs with local food banks and other organisations. During the lockdown, OxGrow volunteers were busy supplying food to mutual aid groups and other charities.

To start off the evening, a few GoodGymers met early for a social-distance jaunt as part of Bethan’s couch-to-5K programme. Then gathered in our large socially distanced circle, we were happy to welcome a number of new runners, with some who are new to Oxford but familiar with GoodGym (welcome Annabel, Kayleigh and Laura), and others like Georgie who are new to GoodGym but familiar with Oxford.

We then headed over the railway tracks to the hidden Hogacre Common, and our bumper crop of GoodGymers got to work on a number of different tasks. Some watered the plants and seeded some spinach in the polytunnel, while others picked the perfectly ripe raspberries and blackberries. At the same time, a crew equipped with forks and gloves got to work weeding the veggie patch that had become overgrown during lockdown. We managed to get rid of many wheelbarrows’ worth of weeds, all while being careful not to uproot the potatoes!

At the end of the evening, we were invited to take home a variety of crops from the garden, including berries, chard, garlic, tomatoes, herbs and more. We even got to enjoy some veggies from the plot we helped weed last year – the fruit of our labour!